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Original poster

Does anyone regret bifolds?

118 replies

NameyMcNameName · 07/05/2025 14:20

I’m looking at my extension plan and wondering if anyone has ever regretted their bifolds? I will have a patio and hopefully veranda so bifolds will be lovely in the summer, but what about winter? What if you just want to open them a little?

OP posts:
MrsMitford3 · 07/05/2025 16:01

Just to say they are on the list of things MN tends to hate so bear that in mind.

I absolutely love mine.
They are open now and just seem to extend the house into the garden. Really nice vibe. One of the best things we did when we did our extension-about 11 years ago now.

We tend to have them open from now through the autumn and really have nothing negative to say at all
(assuming this recommendation will not turn up on a MN "Swears by" any time soon 😂)

clarrylove · 07/05/2025 16:03

We love ours. Ours are north facing though so never allow sun/heat in. Most often we pop the door open and push out the middle panel and then bring the door back in leaving a small gap to allow air in. This works really well as a half measure and reduces the insects coming in. We have had a lot of bird fly into them though. We have now put silhouette stickers on them.

Meadowfinch · 07/05/2025 16:13

I went with french doors and sky lights over. The kitchen faces east, with a view across a water meadow, so I can sit and watch the dawn.

The sun hits the skylights early and warms the room so it is naturally warm for 8 months of the year. By 12.30pm the sun is on the other side of the house so it never gets too hot.

I get a few insects in but they fly up to sky lights, and generally aren't a problem.

Annoyingsquirrels · 07/05/2025 16:16

I love ours. We have electric honeycomb blinds to stop the sun when it gets too hot and other windows to open in the same room. Another benefit of them is when you burn dinner you can get rid of the smell really fast!

Vick99 · 07/05/2025 16:33

We love ours too, they've transformed the kitchen. We're north facing so they maximise the light - I can imagine south-facing bi-folds could be an issue with the sun streaming in all day. Ours don't need blinds, we just have curtains.

Advocodo · 07/05/2025 16:37

A friend regretted them! I chose not to have them as wasn’t keen away and builder recommended not getting them. Aren’t they hugely expensive too!

TonTonMacoute · 07/05/2025 16:41

When we're having work done on our house we ordered a big sliding patio door to replace our French windows, but due to a mistake we ended up with bifold. We love them, it's made a sensatIonal room now, when they are open the whole end of the room is open to the garden.

We don't get any more insects or birds in the room than we did with the old doors, and on the very few occasions they do get in it's easier to get them out again.

TerroristToddler · 07/05/2025 16:42

We have a row of 4 bifold doors and I love them so much. It has really opened up the space and we do have them open a lot during summer - it makes the garden feel like another room of the house and the kids can easily come and go. We also have a row of 4 big velux and a vaulted ceiling - it makes it feel so big.

We got blinds relatively cheap (certainly no more than £550 in total) from Blinds2Go and they work perfectly fine to block any low sunlight if we're indoors in the evening. Also got the velux blinds from there too and they were far more reasonably priced than I'd seen quoted elsewhere.

Ravenview · 07/05/2025 16:43

BearPear · 07/05/2025 14:54

Much as I love my bifold doors, in hindsight I would have preferred sliding doors. We have 3 big panels, 2 sliders would be perfect, plus you can open a slider incrementally whereas the bifold is a bit all or nothing (we usually only open one, as others have said, the full width is rarely fully opened).
We are north facing so being overheated isn’t a problem. I would love some curtains for winter but DH isn’t keen.

I agree about the sliding doors.

I love the light the bifolds bring into the house but I very rarely open them up fully due to pollen/bugs. DH loves them and will open at any given opportunity!

Advocodo · 07/05/2025 16:43

Think sliding doors work better if you have pets as you can open them just a tiny bit so the pets can go in and out!

chewytalagi · 07/05/2025 16:46

We've had bifolds for more than 10 years. I wouldn't get them now! They're OK if you also have a service door but a pain if not. I'd go for a single service door and large picture window with bench seat, if I had my time again. We've resolved the bug issue by having thin curtains that we can pull across, but still not ideal

HouseofDreams · 07/05/2025 16:49

I really like mine but I wish I had got the ones with built in blinds

threenaancurrywhore · 07/05/2025 17:00

My parents have bifolds, south-facing. They’re open from May to September plus on unseasonably good days. Their garden is glorious, though. They have a single door as part of the bifolds, and some others that tilt in for airflow. No need for expensive blinds: they put in a near-invisible track in the reveal, hung with fancy linen drapes.

jessycake · 07/05/2025 17:26

I like mine , but they replaced patio doors that were too wide and the doors used to drop and were hard to lock . The back of my house is so hot that we often have them open in the summer slightly and fully open if we have a lot of people round .

Caspianberg · 07/05/2025 17:31

We went for sliding instead due to the space the bi folds take up when open

We have four glass panels, middle two slide either side so we have about 2.5m gap in middle. It’s great in summer and in winter with can open just a cm if we want. You can add mosquito members to them also, our fold out from the side on roller so hidden when not in use

KarlaKK · 07/05/2025 19:39

I'd worry about a mouse or rat getting in too if they're open all day. I can't believe people saying not many insects get in. I only have to open a small window and get big flies in that can't seem to find their way out unless you open the windows wide. The small ones hover around aimlessly and have to be killed. My neighbour had loads of flies with his bi-fold doors. He said they didn't bother him and they did find their way out but I don't like the idea of them landing on anything in the kitchen. Not for me at all. Don't like the idea of people looking in either at night. I've discounted houses with them as I can imagine the cost of getting French doors or sliding doors would be quite expensive.

Seeyousoonboo · 07/05/2025 20:00

80smonster · 07/05/2025 15:08

So ugly and clunky. Who wants to look at that much Uvpc framing. I’d go for something like this instead: www.instagram.com/p/DHylvXpK6PB/?igsh=M2lxemJrZHZ0OW9q

Most are aluminium not UPVC. I find those ones in Good Bones house great for that style of house but far too busy for a non period property, they would look out of place in my 1970s dormer bungalow.

RidingMyBike · 07/05/2025 20:32

We avoided viewing anywhere that had them, particularly if there wasn’t also a separate service door into the back garden. Ended up buying a house where we could have French doors into the garden instead which I love and seems more practical.
One of the houses we viewed was in need of renovation. It was too small for us but a beautiful house. It’s come back on the market and been ruined with some really ugly bifolds.

mangobananasmooothie · 07/05/2025 20:41

We had bifolds in our last house and I liked them for the most part but we put three sliding doors in new house as they give a much wider expanse of glass which means the view of garden is much less broken up (for the 10 months of the year when they won't be open). They slide into each other so 2/3 of the space can be open which is more than enough for us. Very happy with the decision.

everymeeveryyou · 07/05/2025 20:58

@Caspianberg have you got a link or any info on the the roller nets/system you have to block insects? Thanks

Communitywebbing · 07/05/2025 21:19

I would not consider a house with them. Too hot or too cold, and exposed , and use up valuable space.

LimitedBrightSpots · 07/05/2025 21:20

I prefer sliding doors. Some friends have "pocket" sliding doors which are mostly hidden in the wall when open.

Trumpetoftheswan2 · 07/05/2025 21:29

They can look amazing on the right house. We went for French doors and a large window with a window seat. Perfect for us.

vrouge · 07/05/2025 21:33

We have a 2.5m wide sliding door and a 2.5m picture window (that the sliding door goes across when open). We have armchairs in front of the picture window and just look out at our garden and the birds - even on a rainy day its still lovely to look out, but when the door is open it still a big enough opening. We are south-west facing but got triple glazing so doesn't get too hot. Basically it was the most expensive part of our extension but 100% worth it.

OnePearlHelper · 07/05/2025 21:42

I’ve never had any of the issues the other posters have said, it’s never to hot or to cold, we are not blinded by the sun and we don’t get insects. I love them.